


though this promise might seem hollow (i will follow through)

by thewestwinged



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Reunion, as of motf part two at least, its feelings and fluff and a silly attempt at a plot before i get to those things, people dealing with their emotions, rescues! chases! escapes! true love!, this is self indulgent but like what else do you expect from me. lets be real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:23:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewestwinged/pseuds/thewestwinged
Summary: it was two days after the whole business with new town and the theia soul went down before juno remembered that he had buddy aurinko’s phone number in his comms. it took another week of blustering and cleanup and streams marathons with rita and mick for him to call it.(juno finds peter this time around. things get fixed.)





	though this promise might seem hollow (i will follow through)

It was two days after the whole business with New Town and the Theia Soul went down before Juno remembered that he had Buddy Aurinko’s phone number in his comms. It took another week of blustering and cleanup and streams marathons with Rita and Mick for him to call it.

She picked up on the first ring.

“Glad you decided to call,” Buddy said, and her voice was almost lighter, somehow. Like she’d gotten really, truly happy since the last time he’d seen her. Or maybe he was just projecting. But maybe he wasn’t.

“This isn’t going to be a long-term thing,” Juno said. He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes, and then realized she couldn’t see him do it. “I just - I’m not a thief.”

“So you’ve said,” Buddy replied, and she sounded amused. “Why call?”

“Because I’m looking for one,” Juno said. “And I can’t do it on my own.”

Buddy made a soft tsk-tsk noise. “Haven’t you been educated on our fine galaxy’s no snitching policy?”

Juno snorted, a soft huff of breath. “It’s not like that,” he said.

Silence. Buddy was apparently waiting for him to elaborate.

And suddenly, there was this giant lump in his throat, like he’d swallowed a peach pit. All he could think about were soft hotel sheets creased under him, neon lighting. The gentle curve of Nureyev’s face in those last moments when Juno told himself he wasn’t going to look back and did, anyways.

“I, uh, I love him,” Juno said, all in one breath. “Yeah. That.”

Buddy was quiet, for a moment, but the ball was in her court, now. “I see,” she said. “You know, that’s sort of poetic. You reunited Vespa and I, and now, I bring you to your thief.”

Juno let out a long hiss of air. He rested his head against his forearms, realizing belatedly that this was  _ relief _ , that he’d been afraid he would get turned down. That Peter Nureyev had slipped from his grasp with the same finality as Juno had slipped from the hotel room that night. “You already paid me back for Vespa,” he said, finally.

Buddy laughed. “Oh, I know,” she said. “But for a thief to catch the eye of Juno Steel, he must really be something special. Maybe we could use his assistance.”

 

They met at Buddy’s place, out in the Cerberus Province. Juno had asked Rita to come with (it was strange, sort of, asking for support instead of trying to wring it out of people, make it seem like it was never his idea), and so it was the three of them, Jacket, and Vespa, seated at various places around the bar. 

Buddy looked good, real good. There was a sort of glow to her skin that hadn’t been there before. And Vespa had cleaned up, too, a new spiky haircut and clean black clothes. Juno almost felt self conscious in his same old jacket, black eyepatch, but Buddy grinned when she saw him, like she really was glad to see him. “Hello, Juno,” she said. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Rita,” Juno said, nudging his friend. Her eyes were snapping back and forth between Buddy and Vespa, like she couldn’t quite decide which one of them she was more enamored with. “Rita.  _ Rita _ .”

Rita jumped, shoulders jerking. “Right,” she said. “Hi.”

Vespa shifted, twisting one of her box braids in between two fingers. “We heard about New Town,” she said. “Was that you?”

And so Juno caught them up with everything that had happened, Rita jumping in at key points, or to correct him when she felt he wasn’t giving himself enough credit. 

“But then he started sorta moping again,” Rita finished. “Like a lonely little puppy.”

Juno wrinkled his nose, ever grateful for the dark complexion that never betrayed his blush. “Was not.”

“Was too,” Rita said. “He just kept buying all these bushy red flowers and staring at ‘em, until I made him talk about why he was so gosh darned  _ lonely _ . And then he told me about his  _ thief _ .” She whispered the last part, exaggerated, wiggling her eyebrows.

Juno sighed, a long breath. He watched through hooded eyes as Vespa, Buddy, and Jacket all turned to him, expectant. “His name is Duke Rose,” he said. “Sometimes... it’s other things.”

Buddy eyed him, critical. “That’s pretty vague, detective.”

Juno wrinkled his nose. “Can you help me find him, or not?”

“Be polite,” Rita hissed, elbowing him in the ribcage.

Buddy and Vespa shared a long glance. They looked amused. 

Juno tried to shove the amalgamation of gross feelings - impatience, fear, anger, a desperate thing he was barely getting better at naming - deep down where he could worry about them later. “Please,” he said, finally. “I’ll tell you all I can, but.” The words caught.

Buddy stood. She made her way over to him, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Of course,” she said. Her smile was genuine, if a little wry. “Anything for a friend.”

 

According to an old acquaintance of Jacket’s, Duke Rose had last been seen four days previous, being escorted to one of the private decks below the vault of the Oasis Casino Resort. That fact, in combination with Brock Engstrom’s recent return into the low limelight after nearly a year of radio silence, bode  _ extremely  _ poorly. 

Juno had started for the car before Jacket had a chance to finish relaying. 

The facts were as Juno related to Rita, driving across the Martian desert:

  1. Duke Rose had made an enemy out of an extremely powerful thief.
  2. Engstrom did not have a reputation of being kind to those that crossed him.
  3. Valencia was dead. This was Juno’s doing. Any lingering resentment Engstrom might have harbored for Duke Rose as a result of this was, ipso facto, Juno’s fault -



“Nuh uh, boss,” Rita interrupted.

Juno stopped. He realized how loudly his chest was pounding. “What?”

Rita stared ahead, determined. “This is real dangerous, boss, breakin’ into a casino like you’re planning. And I’m  _ here _ ,” she said, voice growing louder as she sensed his urge to butt in, “because I  _ care _ about you, and you’re my friend. What I won’t take is any more of you bad mouthing yourself for things that ain’t your fault.” She took a deep breath, nodded. “Your thief sounds like he’s a bit of trouble, boss. Maybe just as much trouble as you are. Don’t take all of that trouble onto yourself.”

The Oasis Casino Resort was a growing spot on the horizon. Juno stared at it, eyes narrowing. He let his chest fill with everything ugly and breathed it out, slow. He thought about the curve of Peter Nureyev’s mouth, on the few occasions Juno had managed to surprise him. Actually, thinking back on it, he’d surprised him a lot, for an unshakeable thief.

Waking up all alone in that hotel was probably a surprise, too. 

“What if he doesn’t want me to save him,” Juno blurted, all in one breath.

Rita considered this. She reached a hand over to pat him on the arm. “Then you’ll do it anyway, and I’ll win him over with my charm and baking skills.”

 

It was frigid in the area below the casino vault, a maze of thick metal bars and cold linoleum. Juno watched his breath float forward, white steam, twisting around itself. He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck and pushed forward. 

The stunned bodies of more than a dozen guards littered the floor behind him. He couldn’t bring himself to pay them more than a passing glance. They were obstacles, in the way of a very specific goal, and maybe he was thinking a little too much like Peter Nureyev, but in the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Boss?” Rita’s voice was tinny, through the layers of cement separating them. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Juno said. He cleared his throat, glancing at the empty cells around him. The worry in the back of his mind had torn its way forward: he was too late, Nureyev was already dead or gone. Juno broke into a jog. And then he stopped.

Nureyev was in the sixth barred room. He was shivering in a thin long sleeve shirt and pants, eyes closed and fluttering - but at least he was shivering. His body was still trying to warm him up, which meant the hypothermia he most certainly had was only mild. Still, it made Juno want to vomit.

Not that he didn’t look good. Even covered in blood, pale as the moon that shown through the cracks in the concrete, Nureyev was... striking. Juno felt his heart skitter in his chest. “Nureyev,” he hissed. “Nureyev. Wake up.”

When his eyes cracked open, they glittered like fallen meteorites.

“Oh, Juno,” he breathed. He didn’t look surprised, just resigned. Almost sad. The ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “It’s good to see your face.”

Juno tugged at the bars, but they were locked, a big digital box he couldn’t make heads nor tails of. “Rita,” he said, desperate. Somewhere close by, Rita began to babble, picking away at the system through his comms, but Juno couldn’t really pay attention, couldn’t see anything but the delicate curve of Nureyev’s jaw, those sharp teeth.

There were tears welling in Nureyev’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Juno,” he said. “I wish I could have told you that.”

Juno paused. Something sick rattled in his chest. “Nureyev, what are you talking about? I’m right here.”

“I do wish you were,” Nureyev said. The wistful look on his face made Juno want to scream, to punch something, to hold him and wipe those stupid tears off his cheeks. “Alas, I’ve always been wishing for things I don’t quite deserve. It’s a terrible habit.”

“Got it!” Rita announced through the comms, triumphant.

The lock clicked open, and Juno wasted no time shoving the bars aside, striding forward. He watched as Nureyev’s eyes got wider and wider, raking over him, as if trying to find an error, some discontinuity that would prove he wasn’t real. It was heartbreaking, and more than that, it was scary. Juno had never seen him so far away.

“Nureyev,” he whispered, pressing his palms to ice cold cheeks. “Nureyev, look at me.” The thief’s breathing was labored, and being so close, Juno could just smell his cologne, under all the copper and dirt. “Peter,  _ please _ .”

Nureyev’s eyes jolted upwards, like he’d been prodded with something electric, and no, that was an image Juno didn’t want in his head. “Juno,” he said, soft. Like a prayer.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Juno promised through gritted teeth. He stripped his scarf off, wrapping it around the shaking form in front of him. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Wait,” Peter said, and his voice was trembling. “Juno, wait.”

Juno paused.

And then there were lips on his, cold and chapped, and still Juno felt like he could cry, it was so sweet and familiar. He wrapped a hand around the back of Peter’s neck, felt him shiver underneath his fingers. 

When they pulled apart, Juno threaded his shaking fingers through the hair at the back of Peter’s head. “What was that for?” he asked.

“In case you’re a dream,” Peter answered, hands fluttering up and down Juno’s arms.

“And if I’m not?”

Peter smiled, an honest thing, and his eyes were so, so bright. Juno could feel himself drowning in them. “Then I guess we’ll have to see.”

There was a long pause. “Boss?” Rita asked, timid. 

Juno cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re coming.”

 

Rita was waiting outside with the hover car, which Juno was glad for, because the second he sat down in the back seat, Peter clinging to his side, his mind went blank. Like everything that had happened in his life to lead him there had all collapsed on him, all at once. Like Peter Nureyev was a planet whose orbit he couldn’t escape, even if he wanted. Which he didn’t. 

“Drive,” Juno commanded, soft. He then added, “Please.”

“Sure, boss,” Rita said. Her eyes were dark with worry but she kept them on the road as she pressed on the gas, peeling away into traffic. 

Peter was quiet. His eyes were open and his grip on Juno’s scarf was tight, but he hadn’t spoken since Juno had near-carried him out of the cell. Juno wasn’t sure whether or not he was grateful for that. 

And then Peter slumped into his side, face tucked into his rib cage, breathing soft from his mouth. Juno sighed, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, felt the relief bubble up in his chest, like a shaken soda bottle. They were - they were  _ okay _ , at the least. He could deal with that for now. 

They arrived at Juno’s apartment, and Rita only left after Juno’s firm insistence that the two of them would be alright, and another promise to call her within the next thirty hours, please. Juno helped Peter through the window, as was the entrance requiring the least amount of questions from possible passerby, ignoring the loud thump in his chest when Peter grasped weakly at the lapel of his jacket. 

“Easy,” Juno murmured. “We’re safe.”

Peter’s eyes fluttered around the space, as if he’d never seen it before. He blinked, slow, and Juno watched him, enraptured. 

And then Peter cleared his throat, and the magic of the moment was broken, somewhat. He straightened. “May I use your shower?” he asked.

Juno fumbled. “Oh, uh, yeah,” he said. “Are you good to… you know.”

Peter smiled at him, then, fond and amused. Juno felt his heart parkour around his ribcage. “I think I’ll be alright, Juno.”

So Juno let him go, and only waited by the bathroom door for a couple moments, just until he heard the water start. There was a traitorous part of his mind that wondered whether or not Peter could fit through the bathroom window in his current state. It was quickly overshadowed by the tiredness that pulled at Juno’s eyelids. 

He rubbed a hand over his forehead, making his way to the kitchen. Glass of water and painkillers in hand, he returned to his bed, placing the medicine on the side table. Clean sweatshirt and sweatpants laid down by the bathroom door, apartment cleaned as quickly and best as he could, he settled into a chair tugged over from the kitchen.

Juno didn’t want to stay awake to see whether Peter was coming back, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Eyes squeezed shut, he slumped forwards, resting his forehead on clasped hands. The world swam. Every time he could feel himself slipping into sleep, his stomach would jerk and twist, and he would have to fall back into himself, check if the water was still running.

The loose floorboard near the foot of the bed creaked. Juno lifted his head up, breath catching.

Peter looked… soft, especially in Juno’s baggy sleepwear. His face was bare, hair free of its usual product, falling in damp curls around his face. “Juno,” he said. 

He always made it sound like something special, like Juno was a goddess, not just named after one.

And then he was teetering, like the hanging hand of a grandfather clock, and Juno was clambering to his side, helping him onto the bed. Peter coughed, wet and crackling. Wincing, Juno handed over the glass of water and the meds, glanced away as Peter drank. 

The room was silent, air rife with tension.

“Nureyev,” Juno said. He had to swallow around the middle of it. His whole body felt rife with tension, like he was a live wire, about to explode. Every miniscule move Peter made was thundering. “You’re, uh. You’re a hard man to find.”

Peter smiled, a slow twitch of his lips. “To tell you the truth,” he said, “I didn’t think anyone would be looking.”

And - Jesus, that hurt. Juno flinched backwards, but not fast enough to miss the flash of confusion and regret on Peter’s face. It didn’t matter. Whatever he was thinking, whatever mysteries were trampling through his mind right now, Juno was going to say his piece. He’d earned that much, and Peter deserved to know.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Peter opened his mouth, as if to protest. 

Juno barrelled forward. “I’m sorry I left. It was… it was unfair, and incredibly shitty. I just need you to know-” The words caught, honey in the back of his throat, but Peter was waiting, patient. “I’m so… goddamn sorry, Nureyev.”

A long pause, and then Peter squeezed his hands, lightly. His smile looked pained. His eyes flickered over every inch of Juno’s face, like he was trying to memorize all the details for a quiz later on. “I understand,” he said. “I don’t blame you.”

Juno made a frustrated noise. “No, it’s. It’s not about blame, Nureyev, I  _ hurt _ you.”

“I think,” Peter said, “we’ve hurt each other in equal capacity.” 

It took a moment for the meaning of the words to register, but once they did, it was like someone took a bucket of white paint and upended it inside Juno’s brain. He couldn’t tell which way was up. “Wait, what?”

“I got you involved with Miasma,” Peter said, and his voice was even and measured in a way that Juno knew was entirely forced. “I - I asked you to trust me, and I didn’t tell you the last of my secrets, the worst of them, until you couldn’t leave.” He laughed again, short and wet, and it was like someone had taken Juno’s heart and twisted it up. “Juno, after what I showed you, of  _ course _ you left. Anyone would have.”

And that was wrong, it was wrong like the quiet, nervous flutter in his hands. Juno couldn’t do anything else. He leaned forward, until he was barely inches away, and paused. “Is this okay?”

Peter made a terrible, wounded noise. He tugged Juno down. 

And it was warm, so warm, after everything, so gentle Juno felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Peter’s hand hovered around his jaw, and Juno leaned into it, almost desperate, clambering forward so he was kneeling over him. Slim fingers danced over his neck, and the thought that had been building, snowballing, hit him like a train.

He pulled up, just an inch. “I love you,” he gasped. “Peter, I love you.”

Peter was staring, now, and his eyes were so bright, so beautiful. It almost hurt to look at him. 

“I’ve loved you for - for a  _ really  _ long time,” Juno continued, “and I loved you before I saw inside your head, and I loved you after it.”

“But…” Peter’s eyebrows scrunched, like his world had just been upturned. He was breathless. Juno allowed himself a moment of pride, that he had made him that way. “Then, why?” It was barely a question.

“Because I used to hate myself a lot more than I loved you,” Juno answered, quiet. Every point of contact between the two of them was like another sparkler. He was burning up. “But some stuff has changed since then, and - I don’t deserve you, Peter, but I think that one day I could.” He traced Peter’s lower lip with his thumb, heart skipping a beat as it caught the edge of a sharp tooth. 

Peter was just staring, staring, like he’d never seen anything like Juno Steel in all of his life. “Oh,” was all he said. Like a revelation. And then he smiled, really smiled, and it was like the sun had come out and shaped itself into a halo over his dark hair, loose curls. He curled a hand around the back of Juno’s neck, pressing a barely-there kiss to the pad of Juno’s thumb. “We’ve been rather foolish, haven’t we, darling.”

Juno snorted. His heart was going to burst out of his chest. It was going to implode on itself, it was so far over capacity with love for this stupid, beautiful idiot. “You’re a dork,” he said.

“I love you,” Peter responded, and it was so earnest and open, Juno had to kiss him again. Peter was soft and pliant beneath him, winding slender fingers through Juno’s hair, making such pretty noises. Juno wanted to kiss him forever.

But he was tired, and Peter was still hurt, and he didn’t exactly trust the two of them to be mindful. With one last kiss, he pulled away, rolling off of Peter and onto the bed next to him. “You need to rest,” he said, and it was kind of embarrassing how shaky his voice was, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Peter looked like he was going to protest, but a yawn interrupted him, and he came out of it looking a little bit sheepish and a little bit enamored. Like he still couldn’t believe Juno was here. “Alright,” he said.

Juno didn’t want to think about that. He pushed all thoughts of hotels and pain away, back into the corner of his mind, so they could talk through everything later. Together. He slipped under the blankets, tugging Peter towards him, pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

Peter muttered something incomprehensible into his chest. Juno tilted the thief’s chin up, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Will you…” Peter flushed red. It was the first time Juno had ever seen him really, truly nervous. “Will you stay?”

If there was anything left of his heart to break, it would have snapped. As it was, Juno could only crowd Peter as close to his chest as possible, careful of his wounds, and try not to cry. “I promise,” he said. Some of the pain made its way into his voice, anyway. Peter didn’t mention it. Juno took an even breath, and tried again, stroking a hand through Peter’s hair. “I promise.”

 

The comm was ringing. 

Juno groaned into the shoulder his face was tucked into. It was too fucking early for this. Goddamnit.

“Are you going to get that, darling?” Peter asked, from directly above him. His voice was trembling with unexpressed amusement.

“Don’t wanna,” Juno muttered.

Peter snorted. It was adorable, and still not enough for Juno to want to greet the day. “What if it’s from someone important?”

“There’s no one who’s  _ that _ impor-” And then Juno remembered the promise he made to Buddy Aurinko, and he shot up. “Cerberus Province area code?”

Peter handed the comm over.

“Hey,” Juno said, putting the thing on speaker. It worked, just the way Rita had taught him, and he was a little stupid proud about it.

“Good morning.” It was Jacket. He sounded entirely too cheerful.

Juno rubbed a hand over his eyes. “What, is Buddy having you make her phone calls, now?”

There was a little bit of a strangled gasp from Juno’s left, but Jacket’s laugh overpowered it. “I am doing her a favor,” Jacket said. “I am offering  _ you _ the favor of a ride, although we would have to meet somewhere new.”

“S’ alright,” Juno mumbled. “I can get out there.” He yawned, and it cracked at his jaw. “Thanks, though,” he added.

Jacket made a sound suspiciously similar to a laugh. He hung up.

Juno turned to put the comms back on the side table, but he stopped when he saw the look of pure shock on Peter’s face. He furrowed his brow. “What?”

Peter looked a little woozy. It was entirely unsettling. “Was that… Buddy as in Buddy Aurinko?”

Juno swallowed. “Is that… okay?”

A weird gasping noise escaped Peter’s mouth, and it was then that Juno identified the specific emotion on his face - he was starstruck. “Are you kidding?” Peter said, and his grin was as bright as the sun. “Juno, when Buddy and Vespa got back into the game, it was all anyone talked about for days. It’s probably all anyone is still talking about. Their heist on Neptune  _ revolutionized _ the method of-”

Juno leaned his chin on his hand, and listened to his thief talk. There was a warmth blossoming in his chest, one that he wasn’t so afraid to name anymore. And it wasn’t caused by anything special, either - just soft light and comfort and Peter Nureyev’s voice, lilting even in his excitement. The prospect of a car ride out in the desert, Rita talking his ear off - and as he thought about it, Rita and Peter would be insufferable together, wouldn’t they be. Juno couldn’t bring himself to dread it. He was - god, he was  _ happy _ . 

As Peter dragged him into the kitchen, still talking animatedly about Buddy and Vespa’s greatest hits, Juno let himself smile. He reached into his memories and pulled out the recipe for pancakes.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! its me! i can be found on tumblr @ foxglovefemme if you want to yell about these dumb idiots with me  
> also apologies i was really excited to post this and didn't do more than a cursory edit so if there are glaring errors i would appreciate if u would let me know ashadsd  
> anyways hope you enjoyed! bye !


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